The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1887-12-10

H. ilOiI ttlC liCECIiJ tdii i'll II HCCcSsdIN
i'll order that higher wages may be paid
to Il workingmen employed in manu-
factories than are paid for what is call,
ed the pauper labor of Europe. All
will acknoHi ledge the force of ar9u-
ment which involves the welfare and
liberal compensation of our labor.
Labor is honorable in the eyes of every
American citizen; and as it lies at the
foundation of our development and
progress, it is entitled, without affecta-
ton or hypocrisy, to the utmost regard.
The standard OF our laborers' life
should not be measured by that of any
other country less favored, and they
are entitled to their full share of ali oul
advantages.
PROTECTED WORKERS.
By the last census il is made to ap-
pear that OF IL, 1892 ,O99 of our popula-
ton engaged in all kinds of industries
7,670,493 are employed in agriculture
4,O74, 23S in professional and personal
service (2,934.S76 of whom are domes.
tic servants and laborers), while
1870 55 are employed in trade and
transportation, and 3,S27.1l2 are class
ed as employed in manufacturing and
mining.
For present purposes, however, the
last number given should be considera.
bly, reduced. Without attempting to
enumerate all, il will be conceded that
there should be deducted from those
which it includes 1915, 143 carpenters
and j%Oiners, 2S5, 401 milIiners, dress
makers and seamstresses. 172,726
blacksmitbs, 1876 tailors and tail
dresses, 102,473 masons, 76,24l butch
ers, Al ,309 bakers, 22,0S5 plestercrs, and
1881 engaged in manufacturing agri-
cultural implements, amounting ia the
to 1,214,023, leaving $685.
OS9 persons employed in such manu-
featuring industries as are claimed to
be benefited by a high tariff.
To these the appeal Is made to save
their employment and maintain their
wages by resisting a change. There
should be no disposition to answer
suggestions by tire allegation that
they are i'll a minority among those
who labor, and therefore should forego
an advantage in the interest Of low
prices for the majority their compen-
%satiOn, as it may be affected by the
of tariff laws, should at all
times be s%crupulousiy kept in view;
and yet with slight reflection they will
moi overlook the tact that they are CHI
with the rest; that they, too,
have their W wants and those of their
TO supply from their earnings.
and that the prices of the necessaries
of life, as well as the amount OF their
wager, will regulate the measure of their
welfare and comfort.
But the reduction of taxation de-
manded should be so measured as not
to necessitate or justify either the loss
Of employment by the nottingham nor
the lessening of his wages; and the
profits still remaining to the manufac-
turer, after a necessary establishment,
furnish no excuse for the sacri-
flee of the interests of his employees
either in their opportunity to work or
in the diminution OF their compensa-
Nor can the worker in manu-
fail to understand that while
q high tariff is claimed TO be necessary
to allow the payment OF remunerative
wages, il certainly results in a very
increase in the price OF nearly all
sorts Of manufactures, which, in almost
countless forms, he needs for the use of
himself and his family. He receives at
desk of his employer his wages.
and perhaps before be reaches his
home is obliged, i'll Il purchase for fam
lily use, of all article which embraces
lis W labor, to return, i'll the pay
of the increase in price which the
.aritf permits, the ~hard-earned compen-
sation OF many days of toll.
THE WOOL TARIFF.
The farmer and the agrlcu!turist, who
nothing, but who pay the
increased price which the tariff i'm
poses upon every agricultural inpie-
nent, upon all he wears and upon all
ne uses and owns. except the increase
Of his flocks and herds and such things
his husbandly produces from the
soil, is invited to aid iii maintaining
he present situation; and he is told
hat a high duty on imported wool is
necessary for the benefit of those who
nave sheep to shear, in order that the
price of their wool may be Increased.
They of course are not reminded that
lie farmer who has no sheep is by
his scheme obliged, in his purchases of
and wooden goods, to pay a
ribute to his fellow-farmer as well as
the manufacturer and mel chant; nor
S any mention made of the fact that
he sheep-owners themselves and their
households must wear clothing and use
articles manufactured from the
wool they sell at tariff prices, and thus
Is consumers must return their share
If this increai ed price to the trades
nan,
| think it may be fairly assumed that
large proportion OF the sheep owned
~ the farmers throughout the country
ire found in small flocks numbering
rom twenty-five TO fifty. The duty on
he grade OF imported wool which
hese sheep yield is 10 cents each pound
f of the value of so cents or less, and
70 cents. II The liberal estimate of six
pounds be allowed for each fleece the
!uty thereon would be 90 or u cents.
md this may be taken as the utmost
enhancement of lis price to the farmer
~ reason of this duty. Eighteen dol
would thus represent the increased
lice OF the wool from twenty-five
heep, and $50 that from the wool OF
fifty sheep; and at present values This
wOnld amount to about one
bird OF IFS price. II npoii lis sale the
arfner receives this or q less tariff
,rOtit, the wool leaves his hands c!larg-
ID with precisely that sum, which in
III its charges will adhere TO it, until
4 IanahhS tho nnt,o.t,n> ti!,,., ,,n,
fractured into cloth aud other goods
md material for use, its cost ID not
'niy increased to the extent Of the
ariners' tariff profit, but Il further sum
las been added for the benefit Of the
manufacturer under the operation Of
tariff lava. In the meantime
he day arrives when the farmer finds
t necessary TO purchase WOODEN goods
mi material TO clOthe himself and fam
ly for the winter. when he faces the
radeslnan Tor that purpose he d:scDy-
rs that lie is obliged net only 10 return
u the way of Increased prices his tariff
,roiit on the wool he sold, and which
hen lies before him in manufactured
orin but that he must add 4 consider
bic sum thereto TO meet q further
Increase in cost caused by Il tariff diIv |
n the manufacture. Thus in The end
lie IS aroused to the fact that he lrUs
'aid upon j moderate purchase, a. a
esnit vi the tariff scheme, which,
!hen he sold lis wool, seemed 81 !
AN increase III price, more
IAN sufficient 10 sweep away ali the
aritt profit he received upon !l.e wool
le produced and sold.
When the number OF farmers engay-
d in wooi-raising is compared with all
he farmers in the and the